HIST(2): Student Edition, Volume 1

CHAPTER 6 The Revolution

Learning Outcomes After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following:

LO 1 Describe the long-term causes and more immediate events that led the colonists into a true revolution against Britain.

LO 2 Discuss the various phases of the American Revolution, and analyze the circumstances that eventually helped the colonists win a conflict that Britain, by rights, should never have lost.

LO 3 Assess the significance of the American Revolution to the following groups: colonists, slaves, native populations, and women. 9781133440406, HIST2, Volume 1, Kevin M. Schultz - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization Ostensibly, the battle was “ between freedom and tyranny (if you were a patriot), or about the responsibilities of being an Englishman (if you were a Loyalist).

After the “long train of abuses”” leading up to the Declaration of Independence, from 1776 to What do you think? 1783 American patriots fought a long and difficult war with By the end of 1775, the colonists had no choice but to Britain. Ostensibly, the battle seek full independence from England. was between freedom and Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree tyranny (if you were a patriot), 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

or about the responsibilities of being an Englishman (if you were a Loyalist). In reality, choosing sides was much more personal, depending, for instance, on whether your landlord was a Loyalist or a patriot, whether you thought political freedom would improve your business, or whether you felt the earnings you made from a slave-based economy were threatened. All colonists, of course, were forced to choose sides, although many remained ambivalent about each position. Loyalists were scorned, but revolutionaries would be punished brutally if their side lost the war. Choosing sides was no small matter, and the consequences could be deadly. But the war and the political independence that followed made up only one of several revolutions that took place during these years. The revolutionary war brought with it fundamental questions about freedom and liberty, and about what kind of society Americans wanted. How far would the American Revolution go in promoting equality? Would economic and educational differences be eradicated by a leveling state? Would slavery be abolished? How different would the new society look compared with the old?

1 LO From Rebellion to Revolution As in most revolutions, the American Revolution had long-term, underlying causes that finally came to a head because of short-term, precipitating events.

Underlying Causes

Between 1660 and 1763, the colonies had formed a unique society distinct from that of England. Perhaps most importantly, they had developed a dynamic economy in manu- facturing and developing goods, as well as supplying raw materials to trading partners in both the Old and New Worlds. In other words, the colonies were not just a primary economic supplier (supplying raw materials to a mother country), but a well-rounded economic system unto themselves. Of course, many wealthy southerners owed their fortunes to slave-based cash crops that were then traded with England, so these colonists shied away from confrontation with the Crown. Nevertheless, large sectors of the North American economy were becoming increasingly independent of England.

. iStockphoto.com/Sean Locke From Rebellion to Revolution 99

9781133440406, HIST2, Volume 1, Kevin M. Schultz - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization Hessians Lord Dunmore’s actions German soldiers hired by are significant, however, Britain to fight against the rebelling American colonies for another reason. After retreating to an offshore ship as he awaited British Along similar lines, military support, Dunmore property ownership was issued a proclamation more common in the colo-

offering freedom to any . iStockphoto.com/Ray Roper nies than in England. This slave who agreed to fight meant that, with the notable for the British. His pro- exception of slaves, the peo- gram, “Liberty to Slaves,” ple working the land owned it, angered the colonists, who would which gave them something later cite Dunmore’s actions in the Declaration of to fight for should their posi- Independence. To many colonists, liberty was meant tion be threatened. The colonies also had developed only for Europeans and Euro-Americans, and it stung without the titled aristocracy or widespread poverty that the governor was offering it to slaves. Within found in England, two further factors in making the weeks of Dunmore’s call, between five hundred and colonies an entity unique from England. And, in fact, six hundred slaves responded, and before the war each colony had developed a self-elected govern- was over, several thousand more fought for Britain ment, something they were not willing to give up and for their freedom. This Learn more easily. is in contrast to the colonial about Lord Dun- army, whose commander more and read Precipitating Events George Washington refused his proclamation. to use black soldiers during These long-term causes could not have detonated the first years of the war. Indeed, only during the into a war without several precipitating sparks. final months of the war were colonists forced to Three were substantial: (1) increased local conflicts; press slaves into service, delaying doing so mostly (2) the uncompromising attitude of Britain; and because they feared arming them as enemies. (3) a shift in opinion among the colonists—toward revolution. Uncompromising Britain The Widening War As the war widened, King George III grew increasingly angry at the colonies for their continued insub- At the local level, the war’s scope was widen- ordination. He rejected the “Olive Branch Petition” of ing even before any official declaration of war. the Second Continental Congress and in August 1775 In 1775, for instance, Ethan Allen and his “Green denounced the colonists as rebels. He also hired Mountain Boys” attacked and captured Britain’s mercenaries from Germany, called “Hessians,” to Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point in backwoods fight the colonists. And in December 1775 he closed New York. The Continental Army invaded Canada all American ports. This last action was particularly and captured Montreal but failed to capture significant because it made independence abso- Quebec. In Charleston, patriots beat back lutely necessary to open trade with other an attack by a British fleet. In Boston, countries. The king’s uncompromising patriots surrounded and laid “siege” attitude presented the colonists with on the city after the British had few options other than revolution. taken control after the Battle of Bunker Hill. Virginians meanwhile forced the royal governor, Lord Dunmore, to retreat from the mainland to a British war- ship in the harbor at Norfolk. These local conflicts, organized without the assistance of any unified colonial body, indicated a >> The king’s uncompromising attitude widening war between England and presented the colonists with few options the colonies. other than revolution. . iStockphoto.com/Simon Smith

100 CHAPTER 6 The Revolution

9781133440406, HIST2, Volume 1, Kevin M. Schultz - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization The Shift in American Opinion The Revolutionaries republicanism The theory that government Finally, popular opinion had gradually shifted toward Why revolt? Each rebel- should be based on the consent of the governed and independence. The decline of salutary neglect and ling colonist had a differ- that the governed had a duty the spread of local violence led many colonists ent motive for supporting to ensure that their govern- to side with the revolutionaries. These economic a break with England, and ment did not infringe on individual rights and social events pushed the war of ideas about these reasons were just as freedom and sovereignty into the lives of everyday complicated as those for Americans, and the more the Crown proved uncom- remaining loyal. promising, the more American opinion shifted Personal and commercial considerations were toward revolution. vitally important. But perhaps most influential was the ideology of republicanism, the idea that gov- Choosing Sides ernment should be based on the consent of the governed and that the people had a duty to ensure There was, however, never unanimity, and thus, in that their government did not infringe on individual addition to this being a revolutionary war, it was also rights. The American Revolution was the first seri- very much a civil war. ous modern attempt to craft a government based on The Loyalists these principles. Republicanism set down deep roots in England Why remain loyal? In the end, some- before it flowered on American soil. The where between one-fifth and one- British Radical Whigs of the 1600s, third of the colonists remained loyal for example, harked back to to Britain throughout the war (see “The the classical Roman ideal reasons why. . .” box). Most prominent of a “republican soci- in this group were wealthy landholders ety,” in which gov- and slave owners, who had the most ernmental power to lose in a revolution. Furthermore, a was curtailed by large percentage of colonists remained the actions of the indifferent to both the British and the people, who were revolutionaries. presumed to be vir- Although all the colonies had some tuous and willing pro-Crown families, geographically to sacrifice for the most Loyalists lived in the southern public good. Drawing

colonies and New York. on these Roman ideals, by Light/Alan Spencer/Alamy . Powered {The reasons why . . .} Colonists were reluctant to withdraw from the British Empire for at least six reasons: Personal connections in Britain. Many still felt a strong Fears of what American independence might mean. attachment to Britain and the king, and many still had family and Some of the smaller religious groups felt that Britain had protected friends there. them from more powerful denominations that could potentially flourish if the new American state adopted a national religion. Economic ties. Many also had strong commercial ties with Britain (the slave-based economy of the southern colonies was particularly Personal motives. Economically, it was often a matter of settling dependent on such trade). To rebel was to risk their present and small scores. If, for instance, your landlord was a revolutionary, you future wealth. were likely to be a Loyalist; if your landlord was a Loyalist, you were likely to be a patriot. Geo-political concerns. Some feared that France or Spain might take over if Britain were driven out of the colonies, and they Uncertainty about American success. Some colonists preferred British rule to that of some other European nation. doubted the colonies’ ability to throw off British rule. After all, Britain was the most powerful nation in the world, with the mightiest army.

From Rebellion to Revolution 101

9781133440406, HIST2, Volume 1, Kevin M. Schultz - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization Cato’s Letters the Radical Whigs outlined a that he was entirely concerned with his own exer- Book that spread republi- theory according to which a cise of power. Paine also argued that independence can ideas throughout the colonies; written by English government was legitimate was the only answer to this problem, using language authors John Trenchard and only when it was based on so powerful that it made any other course of action Thomas Gordon an agreement between the seem absurd. He set forth a vision of America as a members of a society and dynamic, independent nation, growing in popula- Common Sense Influential political pamphlet government. In this formula- tion and prosperity, with a kindly government doing written by Thomas Paine, tion, the members of soci- a substantial amount of economic and political published in January 1776, ety would agree to sacrifice leveling to ensure equality. containing a simple wording Explore an inter- of republican ideals a degree of liberty and the Pointing to the tremendous active module on government would maintain growth of the American choosing sides in security and order, but oth- colonies in the eighteenth the American Revolution. century, Paine argued that erwise avoid infringing on a person’s life, liberty, or Read Common property. Any ruler who transgressed natural laws America was more than Sense. was a tyrant, and under tyranny the rebellion of a just capable of maintaining people was justifiable. (Republicanism was different independence from Britain; from liberalism, which viewed any government as America was so strong, he claimed, that indepen- an unwanted infringement on individual liberty.) dence was inevitable. Republican ideas spread throughout the colo- Paine’s pamphlet was enormously influential in nies in the 1700s, mainly by the work of two English changing the minds of those who had opposed inde- authors—John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon—who pendence. Emerging just as local conflicts spread, wrote a short book called Cato’s Letters. In America, Common Sense was reprinted several times; in total, Cato’s Letters and other Radical Whig writings were 150,000 copies were distributed throughout the quoted every time Britain attempted to raise taxes colonies—a number equivalent to 15 million copies after the French and Indian War. being distributed in the United States today. But the best-known expression of republican ideas in revolutionary America was corset maker The Declaration of Independence Thomas Paine’s political pamphlet Common Sense, published in January 1776. Its simple wording of The increase of local conflicts, Britain’s inflexibility, republican ideals nudged the colonists further and the spreading of republican ideals made a break toward independence. Paine asserted that the king with Britain inevitable by 1776. But independence was never had the welfare of his subjects in mind and expedited further by events on the ground. In March 1776, the Continental Army forced the British to evacuate Boston, ending the eleven-month siege of the city that had begun after Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill. Rather than sail for home, however, the British Army headed for New York, where more Loyalists resided than in any other colony. Choosing not to establish their base where the colonists were united in opposition (Boston), the British hoped to divide the colonies by setting their base of operations in an area less committed

102 CHAPTER 6 The Revolution

9781133440406, HIST2, Volume 1, Kevin M. Schultz - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization draftsman. After the com- Declaration of mittee made minor revisions Independence Statement adopted by to Jefferson’s first draft, the the Second Continental committee presented the Congress declaring that the Declaration of Independence thirteen American colonies, then at battle with Britain, to the Congress on June 28, constituted a free and inde- 1776. pendent state; drafted pri- marily by Thomas Jefferson The Declaration and adopted in 1776

The document consisted of two parts: (1) a preamble justifying the revolution on the basis of natural rights, as espoused in the language of republicanism; and (2) a list of griev- ances accusing George III of tyranny and therefore justifying revolt. The Signing

Once the Congress had read the Declaration, they debated it and made several major changes (the most important one was deleting Jefferson’s tor- tured assertions that England had been responsi- ble for implanting the evil institution of slavery in the New World and then, through Lord Dunmore, provoking slave rebellions). Then the Continental Congress unanimously approved the Declaration of Independence on July 2, 1776, by a vote of 12 to 0. (The delegation from New York abstained from vot- ing because it had not received instructions from its colony legislature, but the delegates themselves stated that they were in favor of independence.) Two days later, on July 4, John Hancock, as presi- dent of the Congress, may have signed the edited document; other delegates added their signatures . Eon Images to a clean copy of the Declaration in early August. >> Common Sense was reprinted several times; in total, 150,000 copies were distributed throughout the colonies—a number equivalent 2 to 15 million copies being distributed in the United States today. LO The War for Independence The Drafting With the Congress’s July 2, 1776, Declaration, the Revolution now had a goal—political independence With this crisis at hand, Richard Henry Lee, a Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress, proposed, on June 7, 1776, that the colonies officially declare their independence. With regional balance in mind, the Congress created a committee to draft a declaration. The committee consisted of John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger View a film about the drafting of Sherman of Connecticut, the Declaration Robert R. Livingston of New of Independence. York, Benjamin Franklin of Read the Pennsylvania, and Thomas Declaration. Jefferson of Virginia, who

was selected as the principal Pettet . iStockphoto.com/Lee

The War for Independence 103

9781133440406, HIST2, Volume 1, Kevin M. Schultz - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization bills of credit for the American colo- Continental Congress could not help because it did Currency printed by the not have much money itself. As fighting progressed, Continental Congress dur- nies. What had begun as a ing the Revolutionary War; struggle to secure the rights the army had to live off the kindness of surround- printing these bills in huge and liberties that the colo- ing farmers (hoping they were patriots and not numbers and without any Loyalists). backing led to high inflation nists felt they deserved as British subjects had become The Continental Army acted under the orders a war to secure American of George Washington, a patrician Virginia tobacco nationhood. farmer whose wealth came View a film about from his wife’s family. He the life of George The Opposing Sides believed in the republican Washington. ideology to the very marrow The colonists had declared their independence, but of his bones. And he had a brilliant grasp of the war’s now they would have to fight for it. But how could military strategy. He recognized that, because of the they? They had long been protected by the British, ideological nature of the Revolution and the nature and, other than a few small colonial militias, they of his ragtag army, his chances would be better if had no standing army. he did not try to win every battle. Indeed, if he refused to engage the The Continental Army British at all and made them wear themselves out in pursuing him, he Efforts to build an army began in The main could win simply by surviving. This earnest even before the Declaration way they raised strategy, of course, also depended

of Independence. It was an uphill “ on nonmilitary colonists continu- battle. The army of the patriots, money was ing to resist and harass the British

called the Continental Army, was governors and troops. Without this often ill equipped, undermanned, simply to print it grassroots support in colonial cities and hungry. From the beginning, and hope people“ and towns, the British might have recruitment was a problem. Many simply starved the colonists into colonists wanted freedom, but not would accept the submission. many wanted to give their lives for bills. it. The Continental Congress had The Revolutionary to offer large bounties of land to Government and Finances induce men to enlist, and eventually it reduced the term of service Washington received his orders to just three months. Although the Congress set from the Continental Congress, the only central- enlistment quotas for all the new states, the states ized authority in the colonies, although it had no rarely met them. At any given time, there were usu- legal standing or charter document. The Continental ally 10,000 poorly trained troops in the Continental Congress could only request assistance from the var- Army. They were usually hungry and unpaid, but the ious states, which had no obligation to grant those requests. Although the revolutionaries planned a national government in 1777, its founding charter (the Articles of Confederation) was not completed until 1781. Throughout the Revolutionary War, then, the revolutionaries had no official central authority. This hindered them organizationally, and worse, it meant that the revolutionaries could not easily raise money. They had neither the power to levy taxes nor the infrastructure of a treasury. The main way they raised money was simply to print it and hope people would accept the bills. The Continental Congress issued these bills of credit throughout the war. The states issued their own money as

. iStockphoto.com/Mark Grenier well, almost all of which was generally more stable >> The army of the patriots was often ill equipped, than the Continental dollars. Toward the end of the undermanned, and hungry. war, the phrase “not worth a Continental” became

104 CHAPTER 6 The Revolution

9781133440406, HIST2, Volume 1, Kevin M. Schultz - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization common, suggesting the Read more centralized currency’s lack about how the of buying power and the revolutionaries paid for the war. widespread lack of faith in it. Only after 1781, when Robert Morris became superintendent of finance, did monetary conditions improve, mainly because he could borrow from friendly European nations. But throughout the war, the United States endured the highest inflation in its history. This took a tremendous toll on consumers, which is to say, all colonists. The British Army

The British, on the other hand, had the most powerful army in the world, supremacy of the seas, and an organized hierarchy of authority that extended all the way to the king. But they also had the more difficult military task of trying to destroy Washington’s army, which was adept at running up hills and into forests to avoid being captured. The Crown sent seasoned British troops who were well armed and accustomed to large battles on vast battlefields. It also had hired German mercenaries, the Hessians, to fight the revolutionaries. Many times, the British George Washington. outnumbered the revolutionaries and were better trained and better armed, but they confronted George Washington in the uniform of a Colonel of the Virginia Militia during the French & Indian in the uniform of a Colonel Virginia Militia during French . George Washington Newark Collection, Peter Charles Willson (1741–1827) (after)/Private (1755–63) (colour litho), Peale, War American Pictures/The Bridgeman Art Library three insurmountable problems: (1) Britain could never supply its troops adequately, especially as Washington prolonged the war by constantly retreating inland, away from places where British ships could easily resupply British troops; (2) Washington avoided directly engaging the British troops, so the regimented British army was subjected to unac- customed guerrilla warfare as it chased him around the countryside; and (3) other European nations (notably France) eventually supported the revolutionaries. These other nations were only too glad to see mighty Britain humbled by upstart New World backwoodsmen.

The First Phase of the War, 1775–1779

© iStockphoto.com/Lee Pettet © iStockphoto.com/Lee The first half of the war took place in the North (see Map 6.1 on page 109). The second half was fought in the South. Generally speaking, the Americans’ strategy was to run and survive. They attacked only when they were convinced of victory. Early British Successes

After evacuating Massachusetts in March 1776, the British Army repositioned on Long Island and

The War for Independence 105

9781133440406, HIST2, Volume 1, Kevin M. Schultz - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization Battle of Saratoga pressed to drive patriot Army. The American victory at Trenton had little Battle in New York State forces from New York City. strategic significance, but it boosted morale and in 1777 between the Continental Army and Their goal was to isolate New energized the Revolution. General Burgoyne’s British England (which it saw as the Army troops; Burgoyne sur- center of resistance) by tak- Reversal of Fortune rendered, giving hope to the revolutionary effort ing control of New York City Because the loss at Trenton was of minor strategic and the Great Lakes, then importance, the British let it go, and, in 1777, British subduing the South, leaving leaders planned a two-pronged invasion that they Massachusetts stranded in its revolutionary fervor. hoped would finish off the war. British general John In July 1776, 34,000 British troops delivered a Burgoyne was to lead his army south from Canada. crushing defeat to the patriots on Long Island and At the same time, General William Howe was to forced the revolutionary army of 18,000 to give up capture Philadelphia, the seat of the colonial gov- New York City. The patriots withdrew all the way to ernment, and then sail up the Hudson River to join New Jersey, then to Pennsylvania. Fleeing was mili- Burgoyne, completely isolating New England and tarily embarrassing and bad for morale, but it was testing the revolutionaries’ unity. tactically sound: so long as the Continental Army At first, the plan was successful. Burgoyne’s army remained intact, the colonies were still fighting for captured outposts in New York (Fort Ticonderoga) independence. and began moving south. Meanwhile, Howe drove Crossing the Delaware the patriots from Philadelphia on September 26, 1777 (forcing the Continental Congress to flee the This loss at New York was a terrible blow to morale. capital), and headed north. Recruitment suffered, and Washington realized he Then the British faced obstacles. General needed a victory. Furthermore, most of Washington’s Burgoyne’s troops were slowed by assorted Loyalists soldiers were enlisted only through the end of 1776, seeking protection from Read a secret so Washington feared that without a victory before the revolutionary fervor of “spy” letter the end of the year, the majority of his soldiers the northern states, which from Howe to would not reenlist. Washington decided on a bold, allowed guerrilla fighters Burgoyne. brilliant action. On Christmas night 1776, the army and an organized camp of crossed the ice-filled Delaware River and captured the Continental Army to catch up and harass the Trenton, New Jersey, which at the time was held by British troops. By the time Burgoyne neared the 1,500 Hessian mercenaries working for the British Hudson River, the Americans had forced him to halt, and, while he waited for reinforcements, he found himself surrounded by 6,000 Continental soldiers. Recognizing their advantage, the Americans attacked. At the end of the fighting, Burgoyne surrendered all 5,700 men who remained of his army. This was the Battle of Saratoga. The American victory there proved two things: (1) that the patriots could defeat size- able regiments of the larger British Army and (2) that, if the British were to win this war, it was going to be a long, expensive affair.

The French Alliance

The Battle of Saratoga was also significant in that it convinced several

. Eon Images European powers, including Spain and >> The American victory at Trenton, after Washington’s crossing the Delaware, the Dutch, to fight against the British. had little strategic significance, but it boosted morale and energized the Revolution. Obtaining the support of France, how-

106 CHAPTER 6 The Revolution

9781133440406, HIST2, Volume 1, Kevin M. Schultz - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization With the French involved, the British now had to defend their entire empire. By 1780, French armies were actively fighting alongside Washington’s army, giving a considerable boost to the revolutionaries.

The War in the West

In the American West—in land west of the Appalachian Mountains, south of the Great Lakes, and east of the Mississippi River—the Revolutionary War was a brutal and violent “Indian War,” where the British and the revolutionaries vied for Indian allies and control of the various forts European settlers had built since first contact. Like the colonists, the Indians were greatly divided as to which side to support, and the stakes for them were incredibly high, considering their already plummeting fortunes in North America. If they picked the wrong side, they could easily be destroyed for their allegiance. Several major tribes, including the Iroquois, Cherokees, and Shawnees, divided into factions over which side to support. The Iroquois who sided with the British were eventually destroyed by the American military, and their lands were torched as a punitive lesson. The British, in general, had more success finding allies and establishing forts near the Great Lakes,

. North Wind Picture Archives/Alamy and they often used those forts as staging grounds >> From the perspective of the winter at Valley Forge, for raids into western New York and Pennsylvania. the Revolutionary War would not last long. Again, as they advanced, they encountered a variety of Indian tribes and settlers, and they never could ever, was key. The French allied themselves with be quite sure whose side these people were on. This the Americans for two reasons: they wanted to help uncertainty made the war in the west a violent and weaken the British Empire, and they wanted access unstable concoction. to New World trading posts, which they had lost In Ohio country, the Virginian George Rogers in the French and Indian War. Up until this point, Clark sought to end British control in Detroit and the French had been reluctant to advocate a losing in other vital throughways to the west. In 1779, cause, however, and the Saratoga victory helped Clark captured some key British and Indian troops alleviate these concerns. and controlled parts of Ohio territory. Despite this In addition to France’s backing, the Americans advantage, a decisive victory proved ephemeral, and also received aid from an influential Frenchman. The uncertainty reigned. Marquis de Lafayette, a nineteen-year-old nobleman In perhaps the most horrific example of the committed to the Republican cause in France, vol- brutality of the war in the west, in 1782, more than unteered for the American fight. Lafayette became 150 Pennsylvania militiamen were on the hunt for an instrumental leader in the American Army and enemy warriors. Instead, they came across nearly 100 played a key role in several pivotal American victo- Delaware Indians who had converted to Christianity ries. The youngest of all the generals in the war, he and were noncombatants. The Indians were starv- successfully lobbied the French to more fully sup- ing and were in an unexpected location searching port the patriots’ cause. for food. Uncertain of the veracity of the Delaware In the end, French support was vital. The French Indians’ story, the militiamen held a council and naval fleet battled Britain’s mighty navy in both the voted to massacre the whole lot, leading to the eastern (European) and western (American) Atlantic. execution (they were scalped) of 28 men, 29 women, The French also fought naval battles in the West and 39 children. Two boys escaped the vicious Indies, the Mediterranean, and India, further divert- execution, telling the story of what has come to be ing British efforts from the American Revolution. called the Gnadenhutten Massacre, named after

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9781133440406, HIST2, Volume 1, Kevin M. Schultz - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization the Pennsylvania town in I saw several of the men Giving Up which it occurred. Several on New England militiamen refused to roast“ their old shoes and eat participate in the slaugh- them, and I was afterwards So instead of attempt- ter, but the violence and ing the costly venture uncertainty that surround informed by one of the of replacing Burgoyne’s it suggest the frightful officers’ waiters, that some troops in an effort to and violent nature of the capture New England, war in the west. of the officers killed and the British planned to ate a favorite little dog that contain New England by The Winter belonged to one of them. holding New York while of 1777–1778 harassing the coastline —Joseph Plumb Martin, Continental” and the South (see Map Aside from the vic- soldier, on northern campaigns of the 6.2, page 110). They also tory at Saratoga and the winter of 1780 aimed to demoralize the French commitment to patriots and break the enter the conflict, the will of the fighters. For Americans were slowly losing the war. General example, the British recognized that the American Howe’s forces were continually besting George treasury had little to offer its generals, so they tried Washington’s troops, enabling the British to capture to “buy” major American leaders, hoping that the Philadelphia and other locations. And Washington, defection of prominent patriots would spread disaf- keeping with his chief tactic, kept on running. As fection. The purchase of General Benedict Arnold in a result, while Howe’s army wintered in the com- 1779 (for more than £10,000) was their chief victory forts of Philadelphia, Washington and his army on this front. Arnold had been a revolutionary hero, stayed 20 miles away in the wilderness of Valley serving in many of the war’s major battles, including Forge, Pennsylvania. It was a harsh winter, and Ticonderoga and Saratoga, where he had been badly Washington’s men were close to starvation. They injured. After having invested his personal fortune were poorly equipped, and, although the coun- in the war effort, he was then somewhat suddenly try had enjoyed one of its best harvests ever, the charged with corruption by political adversaries and Congress had allowed the military supply system was investigated by the Congress. He thus was a to deteriorate into chaos. The men’s clothes were ready, bitter target for bribing. But aside from Arnold, threadbare and the troops were losing heart. From Britain’s bribery policy proved unsuccessful. the perspective of the winter at Valley Forge, the Revolutionary War would not last long. Britain’s Southern Plan Meanwhile, the British prepared to invade the south- The Second Phase of the War, ern colonies. Understanding that the South pos- 1778–1781 sessed more abundant natural resources than the North, they sought to preserve their claim to at least But the victory at Saratoga reemerged to stimulate that region. They also believed that Loyalists were the revolutionary fervor once again. When the snow abundant in the South, so they hoped to exacerbate finally melted, the colonists realized the British had divisions along Loyalist–patriot lines. They had sev- changed tactics. The patriots’ victory at Saratoga eral reasons to believe this, the main one being that, meant that Britain had to commit more troops to in the South, the Revolutionary War really was a civil America, and to do this it needed to raise money, war between frontiersmen, who generally favored most plausibly by raising taxes in England. This was independence, and landholders, who usually sided unpopular in England, and the people’s resistance with the British to protect their assets. These two to increased taxes forced Parliament to make a factions had battled among themselves during the peace offering to the revolutionaries. Parliament’s early years of the war in countless backwoods offering would have maintained the colonial status battles. of America but abandoned British attempts to tax The British miscalculated in their estimation the colonists—returning things to the way they had of Loyalist support in the South, however. For one been in 1763. To the patriots, this offer was unac- thing, Loyalists lacked the fervor and militancy of ceptable; they now wanted freedom. the patriots. For another, Loyalists were not as prev-

108 CHAPTER 6 The Revolution

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R Newhaven American 1776 . White Plains Oct. 28, 1776 British 1777 Ft. Lee Ft. Washington American 1777 PENNSYLVANIA Harlem Heights Sept. 16, 1776 New York Brooklyn Heights British 1778 Princeton Aug. 27, 1776 Jan. 3, 1777 New Brunswick American 1778 See inset Monmouth Jun. 28, 1778 Trenton Valley Forge Dec. 26, 1776 Princeton Philadelphia Germantown Birmingham Cornwallis Oct. 4, 1777 January 2, 1777 Brandywine Washington December 25–26, 1776 Sept. 11, 1777 Maidenhead MD. N.J. Baltimore Trenton Washington January 2–3, 1777 DEL. PENNSYLVANIA NEW 0 50 100 Miles TRENTON-PRINCETON JERSEY CAMPAIGN 0 50 100 Kilometers Bordentown © Cengage Learning

Map 6.1. Revolutionary War in the North alent as British leaders had hoped. The British plan Washington and Greene’s was doomed from the beginning. Strategy for Victory In 1779, the British landed a large army at Charleston. Commanded by General Sir Charles In 1780, the Continental Army in the South, now Cornwallis, the army speedily captured Savannah, led by Nathanael Greene, attempted to counter Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina. Through Cornwallis’s successes by fleeing inland and thus 1780, Cornwallis continued to capture southern sucking the British Army farther into the continent, towns, and he planned to march north to subdue the away from the coast and easily accessible British rest of the colonies, particularly Virginia, which he support. This approach served two purposes: it viewed as crucial to holding the South. stretched British supply lines, and it countered British attempts to rally Loyalist opposition. By

The War for Independence 109

VIRGINIA

Dan

Guilford Court House 1 Mar. 15, 1781 8 7

s i l l a a . w awb R n Cat Yadkin R. r o C NORTH

1 CAROLINA 78 is 1 R. all Kingís Mountain Cornw Neuse Oct. 7, 1780 0 8 7 1 C s a

C p e e t Cowpens a o F G r Jan. 17, 1781 n e a w r Waxhaws a l R S B l May 29, 1780 is . a r o 1 l 7 u a 8 d d 1 a

R R Hanging Rock G . . r e Aug. 8, 1780 a Winnsborough t Ft. Ninety-Six P Wilmington e Camden e Aug. 16, 1780 D e

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SOUTH Corn ATLANTIC wa llis 17 CAROLINA ntee 8 OCEAN Sa R 0 Augusta E . di sto R . Gatesís line of march

Cornwallisís line of march Sav ann a American victory h R Charleston . British victory

drawing the British away from their supplies, Greene troops began stealing from Read a Conti- hoped to force them to “live off the land,” a military once-sympathetic farmers. nental soldier’s euphemism for stealing food from the populace. On top of this, when the account of his Greene and Washington expected that any support two armies actually fought, experiences in 1780. for the British would evaporate as hungry British the Continental soldiers soldiers began to raid farms. inflicted major casualties on the British. Although the Their plan succeeded. For several months, British won most of the engagements, meaning that Cornwallis pursued the Continental Army across they took control of the territory being fought over, the the Carolinas (note Cornwallis’s movements in Continental strategies made British victories costly. Map 6.2). British supplies gradually ran low and, In early 1781, Cornwallis was forced to cease just as Washington and Greene had predicted, the his pursuit and take his army north, into Virginia, to

110 CHAPTER 6 The Revolution

9781133440406, HIST2, Volume 1, Kevin M. Schultz - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization await reinforcements. Faced with mounting casual- Peace Negotiations, 1782–1783 ties, he planned to reunite with his naval fleet at Chesapeake Bay. With battle over, the American team of negotiators— Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and John Adams—found Yorktown and Victory themselves in a difficult situation. They traveled to Paris for the talks in 1782, with instructions to con- The problem with Cornwallis’s plan was positioning: sult with the French. However, the Americans knew while Cornwallis waited for the British fleet (which that both France and its ally, Spain, had territorial the French had forced to retreat to New York), his goals of their own in the New World, goals that the army was stranded at the tip of the Yorktown pen- Americans did not want to encourage. As a result, insula in Virginia. Seizing the opportunity to attack, Franklin, Jay, and Adams determined that it was in Washington moved a combined force of American their best interest to negotiate with the British sepa- and French troops across the lower peninsula; the rately and deal with the French later. American victory was complete when the French naval fleet arrived just before the British fleet could The Treaty of Paris rescue Cornwallis’s 27,000-man army. The treaty that Franklin, Jay, and Adams fashioned After a night of bombardment, on October in 1782 included so many provisions favorable to 19, 1781, Cornwallis turned his sword over to the Americans that it has frequently been called Washington. More accurately, an emissary the greatest triumph in the history of American for Cornwallis handed it to American general diplomacy. To guarantee that France did not have Benjamin Lincoln, whom Washington appointed the best trading rights to the New World, Britain to accept the surrender when he learned that the offered generous terms to the Americans in terms of British commander had refused to offer his sword land and trading rights. America and Britain signed personally. When news of Cornwallis’s surren- a treaty in November 1782. In doing so, Franklin, der reached England, King George III grudgingly Adams, and Jay violated one of the provisions of accepted defeat. The surrender ended six long years the Franco-American Alliance of 1778: namely, that of battle. neither France nor America would negotiate a sepa- Newburgh Conspiracy rate peace with the British. Nevertheless, the French were eager to end the war, and on January 2, 1783, It took more than a year after the last major preliminary treaties were signed between Britain battle before a peace treaty was crafted, however, and France and Britain and Spain, and on February and while negotiations were ongoing, the armies 4 hostilities formally ceased. All parties signed the remained mobilized. Unpaid and undersupplied, Treaty of Paris in September 1783. several American military leaders proposed a coup, There were five major parts to the Treaty of Paris seeking to take control from the relatively impotent of 1783: (1) American independence; (2) American Continental Congress in order to implement a tax expansion west to the Mississippi River and north to pay for unpaid expenses, including their own to the Great Lakes (a much greater area than salaries. The Continental Army was at the time Americans had thus far set- View a map of positioned in Newburgh, New York, about 60 miles tled); (3) freedom of all par- America after north of New York City, which was still occupied ties to travel the Mississippi the Treaty of by the British, and thus the plan became called the River; (4) Spanish control Paris. Newburgh Conspiracy. of Florida; and (5) “no lawful impediment” placed With the British in close striking range, any on British merchants seeking to recoup debts from hint of turmoil within the Continental Army might America. have provoked Britain to resume hostilities. But Washington rapidly quashed the proposed conspir- 3 acy, principally by demonstrating the costs of the war on him personally. The generals were not the LO Significance of the War only ones who had suffered during the war, he said, The six long years of the Revolutionary War were reminding them that independence was more con- filled with suffering. A doctor in the Continental sequential than worldly gain. Washington’s words Army suggested that American losses totaled 70,000, derailed the revolt, but the unrest demonstrated but the number of war-related deaths was more the significance of the peace treaty that was to likely 25,000, with perhaps another 25,000 injured. come. Disease and infection killed off many more. Indeed,

Significance of the War 111

9781133440406, HIST2, Volume 1, Kevin M. Schultz - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization Explore an inter- the war took place in the midst of a widespread of themselves as having a active module smallpox epidemic, which may have killed as many national culture fundamen- about building as 130,000 colonists. (Washington wisely had his tally unique from England’s. a new nation troops inoculated, perhaps his smartest move in the In terms of nationality, most through symbols. entire campaign.) But it was nevertheless a long war, colonists considered them- longer than the Civil War, World War I, or World War II. selves as their great-grandfathers were, English. Furthermore, the war had divided the colonists But the French and Indian War and the American between Loyalists, rebels, and those who were indif- Revolution unified the colonists under a new, ideo- ferent to either side. It had also greatly disrupted logical definition of what it meant to be an American. daily life, as soldiers were recruited to join the A nation is composed of people who recognize that army and leave their families for extended periods they share certain qualities that set them apart from of time, women were asked to shoulder a heavier other nations, whether those qualities are ideologi- burden in their household and in civic life, and cal, political, linguistic, religious, cultural, racial, or slaves contemplated their future in a new American historical. For Americans, in the revolutionary era republic, one that showed little sign of granting and after, a strong belief in democracy and the expe- them freedom. Beyond this tremendous disruption rience of fighting for their political independence of daily life, the American war for independence had were the impetus for the mounting tide of patrio- six major results. tism that followed the Revolutionary War.

The Impact on Politics The Impact on Slavery

Politically, the American Revolution was the first The Revolutionary War also illustrated the contra- world conflict whose winners embraced the prom- diction between slavery and liberty, and it triggered ise of the Enlightenment. In promising the “natural the abolition of slavery in the North. During the rights” of life, liberty, and property, the American Revolution served as an ideological model for later revolutions in France and in Central and South America, among others. But the Revolution was a bellwether of not only liberty but also of republican democracy. The American revolutionaries hoped that their struggles would curb the system of Old World aristocracy. They no longer wanted to be ruled by a few powerful people with long-entrenched methods of perpetuat- ing their wealth and status. Many also did not want an established church that denied the freedom of belief. No one was sure what would arise in the place of Old World aristocracy, but they knew that, after the revolution, the old system was dead. Eventually, this awareness would lead to the formal separation of church and state and limited (but growing) access to the ballot. During the revolutionary era, access to the ballot was still dependent on owning property, which usually excluded women and African Americans, but the Revolution geared up the machinery for a more expansive democracy

in the future. . American School/The Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images

The Impact on American Nationalism >> The experience of fighting for their political independence Before the American Revolution, the colonists liv- was the impetus for the mounting tide of patriotism and patriotic ing in what became the United States did not think imagery that followed the Revolutionary War.

112 CHAPTER 6 The Revolution

9781133440406, HIST2, Volume 1, Kevin M. Schultz - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization war, slaves participated in the fight on both sides, The most dramatic manumit although the British welcomed them more will- changes occurred in the To willingly free one’s slaves ingly than the revolutionaries. Cornwallis himself North when abolition was employed 5,000 slaves, promising to free them after set in motion legally. Vermont outlawed slavery in its the war. Many slaves simply fled their masters dur- first constitution in 1777. In Massachusetts and New ing the confusion of battle. In all, there were about Hampshire, slaves sued for their freedom—and won. 50,000 fewer slaves after the war than before it. In the Middle States, where the slave population was Some former slaves went to New England, some larger, progress was slower, but both Pennsylvania went to Canada, and many stayed in the South to and New York favored gradual emancipation, which, live free. in Pennsylvania’s case, meant that all slaves born After the war, the progress of formal abolition in 1780 or later were free when they turned twenty- was slow and gradual, but it was progress nonethe- one. Throughout the North, five states allowed less. Some advances were even made in the South, African Americans to vote, and in total, by 1810, where the vast majority of slaves lived (see Map three-quarters of the 30,000 African Americans liv- 6.3). Virginia and Maryland made it easier for owning in the North were free. By 1840, there were only ers to manumit (or willingly free) their slaves, and 1,000 slaves in the North, and the freed slaves and many revolutionaries chose to do so. By 1800, one their children had developed large social institu- in ten African Americans in the Chesapeake region tions, including various sects of historically black was free. This meant there were large communities churches and numerous fraternal organizations, where escaped slaves could hide in the growing such as the African American Masons. cities of the Chesapeake. Nevertheless, slavery had Perhaps most importantly, however, by 1790, not been abolished in the South, and leaders like all states except Georgia and South Carolina had Thomas Jefferson, who were well aware of the con- outlawed the importation tradiction between the practice of slavery and the of slaves from abroad. As Read one Quaker’s attempt rhetoric of independence, never freed their slaves. Americans began to con- to point out sider the political meanings inconsistencies between of liberty and freedom, they American freedom and were confronted by the slavery. obvious contradiction of 1790 having freed themselves of the Crown while others lived in slavery. After the Revolution, only compro- mise would keep the issue of slavery at bay, as the North and South took different tactics in handling the contentious issue.

The Impact on Native America

The war also greatly affected the fate of Native Americans, who were generally worse off after the war than before it. By the time of the Revolution, there were few tribes still living on the Atlantic coast, as disease and violence had decimated the tribes of that region. The most powerful tribes in contact with the colonists lived between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River, where the Iroquois dominated in the North and the Choctaw, Seminole, Creek, and Cherokee dominated in the South. The battles throughout Native America were unspeakably harsh, as the war often served as a pre- One dot represents 200 slaves text to remove Indian tribes and empty Indian land

© Cengage Learning for land-hungry colonists. Anyone could become a Map 6.3. Distribution of Slave casualty on the frontier. By the end of the war, nearly Population, 1790 one-third of the Iroquois nation was dead. Their supremacy in the land between the Appalachians

Significance of the War 113

9781133440406, HIST2, Volume 1, Kevin M. Schultz - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization Virginia Statute on and the Great Lakes did not ity. Colonists were also afraid that, around 1763, Religious Freedom Parliament was planning to establish a bishop of the Bill drafted by Thomas survive the war. Jefferson in 1786 articulating In addition to these vio- Anglican Church for America. They feared that any distrust of an established lent encounters, with the such appointment would extend England’s official state church and the value church to the colonies. of religious liberty war over, the tribes of Native America had to contend Two American actions after the war reflected with an expanding nation of their concerns about an established church: settlers who respected no practical western bound- (1) Most of the new state constitutions included some ary and answered to no governmental authority guarantee of religious toleration, although a few of preventing them from moving farther west. This the states that already had an official church (like portended a grim outlook for American Indians. Massachusetts) moved more slowly toward dises- tablishment; and (2) the democratic ideals of the Revolution called into question public financial sup- The Impact on Women port of churches that were not attended by everyone. The best-known representation of these ideas Women played key roles during the Revolution. came in 1786, when the Virginia legislature passed a They enforced boycotts, sewed clothing made of Thomas Jefferson-drafted bill that called for the dis- nonimported fibers, raised impressive funds for the establishment of the Episcopal Church. Jefferson’s Continental Army, and sometimes even engaged in Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom was one of battle. This was a significant shift from the colonial the accomplishments that Jefferson himself was era, when women only rarely protested their total most proud of. The statute said that no Virginian exclusion from politics. New Jersey’s constitution of 1776 opened the franchise to “all free inhabitants” who were worth at least fifty pounds, thus allowing many New Jersey women to vote for the first time. But immediately after the war, women generally lost out politically as the new nation decided how far it would extend the rewards of citizenship. In many states, women were not eligible to own property. And, in every other state besides New Jersey, there is no evidence that women were ever offered the vote. In 1807, even New Jersey rescinded its offer of the franchise. Men confined women’s role to that of “Republican motherhood,” which historians now describe as a double-edged identity—one that put women in charge of raising young male republicans through a demanding path of education, religious adherence, and political engagement but that also confined women’s role to familial relations outside the realm of direct intervention in the public sphere.

The Impact on Religious Minorities

Many historians have pointed to the Great

Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s as laying part . Eon Images of the foundation for the revolutionary events of >> Molly Pitcher: fact or fiction? It is true that women played a the 1760s and 1770s. With its emphasis on personal significant role in the Revolution. One in particular, however—nick- religious experience rather than the authority of the named Molly Pitcher—has achieved legendary status for taking her husband’s place in battle when he was incapacitated. It is not clear ministers, and as one of the first events to create whether the New Jersey woman known as Molly Pitcher was based a shared experience for people from New England on Mary Ludwig Hayes, who was praised for her courage at the Battle to the southern colonies, the Great Awakening has of Monmouth, or Margaret Corbin, who similarly fought at the Battle of been viewed as an early form of revolutionary activ- Fort Washington.

114 CHAPTER 6 The Revolution

9781133440406, HIST2, Volume 1, Kevin M. Schultz - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization See numerous would be “compelled” to go primary sources to any church or form of reli- And in the end. . . connecting the gious worship against their The war generated a bewildering mix of emotions Revolution with religion, including a revolutionary will, and that all Virginians and warnings. It set the patriots free from English flag. were free to profess their control, but it also drew boundaries that the future own opinion “in matters nation would have to observe when it created its Read the Virginia of religion.” It immediately new government and society. It set in motion the Statute of Reli- influenced several state con- ideals of the Enlightenment, but it also provoked the gious Freedom. stitutions, and several states question of how far republican democracy would made their ratification of the extend—not just politically, but socially and eco- United States Constitution in 1787 contingent on an nomically as well. Many revolutionary leaders feared amendment promising that the federal government that too much freedom might lead to chaos: if would not infringe on religious liberties. everyone were free, who would ensure order? On the At the same time, the Revolution led to the other hand, too little freedom might trigger a second creation of several divisions of American churches, revolution. such as the Methodist Episcopal Church of America With the war over, the leaders of the new nation and the Presbyterian Church of the United States. confronted yet another daunting task: forming a Two “freedom churches” also opened, both of which new nation that embodied the revolutionary spirit stressed the brotherhood of man and the freedom without letting that spirit extend to anarchy. of conscience: the Universalist Church (1779) and the Unitarian Church (1785). Thus, not only did the Chronology Revolution inspire laws mandating the separation of 1763 End of salutary neglect church and state, but it also encouraged the creation of two major antidogmatic sects. 1775 Local conflicts escalate January 1776 Tom Paine’s Common Sense July 1776 Declaration of Independence What else was happening . . . December 25, 1776 Crossing the Delaware July 4, The United States celebrates its first birthday. Ships Sept.–Oct. 1777 Battle of Saratoga 1777 lined up on the Delaware River discharge thirteen cannon shots in honor of the thirteen states. 1778 France enters war on the side of the 1778 New Orleans businessman Oliver Pollock creates the United States $ symbol. 1779 Britain invades the South 1784 A new trade route opens for Americans when the 1780 Inland battles force British away from Empress of China sails from New Jersey around Cape supply lines Horn in South America to China. 1787 The first U.S. penny, designed by Benjamin Franklin, Oct. 1781 Yorktown and American victory is minted. 1789 The French Revolution begins, initiating a long battle Visit the CourseMate website in France over “liberty, equality, and fraternity.” at www.cengagebrain.com for 1790 The cornerstone of the mansion known as the White additional study tools and review House is laid. materials for this chapter.

And in the end . . . 115